The Town of Liberty and the City of Smithville each met last Monday night, each making some big decisions concerning a proposed new Smithville Elementary School. Each had to decide whether to approve an 18-year extension to the sales tax agreement with the county that will help secure bonds for school construction.

During the last County Commission meeting, the commission approved a resolution recommending that $55 million in bonds be issued for the construction of a new elementary school to replace the aging Smithville Elementary. The proposed new school would be constructed on land adjacent to the current Northside Elementary.

The recommendation is contingent on the county’s municipalities extending their current sales tax agreement with the county, beyond its current 2030 expiration date. County officials say that with those agreements with the cities, it would be possible to secure funding for school construction without the need for raising property taxes.

The resolution was adopted unanimously, but the cities of Alexandria, Liberty, Dowelltown, and Smithville have until January 2025 to extend their sales tax agreements or the measure will dissolve.

In Smithville, after some discussion aldermen Jessica Higgins, Danny Washer, Shawn Jacobs, and Donnie Crook each voted in favor of extending the agreement, while Beth Chandler passed. The Smithville vote in contingent on the county issuing the school bond within 12 months, or the extension will no longer be in effect. 

At the Liberty meeting, all aldermen seemed to be in agreement on extending the sales tax agreement an additional 18 years. A roll call vote was held and Aldermen

J.D Bratten, Ryan Dodd, Kevin Mullinax, Howard Reynolds Jr., and Kendra Stanford all voted in favor of the measure.

The Liberty board also took a vote on a proposed TACN communication tower to be built next to the Liberty Fire Hall on property jointly owned by Liberty and Dowelltown.. State officials say the 300-foot tower is needed in the area to fix dead zones where emergency radios are unable to communicate with E-911, posing a risk to first responders, law enforcement, and area residents.

While other sites for the tower are options, the State was asking permission from the towns of Dowelltown and Liberty to build at the fire hall, a property jointly owned by both towns but not in either city limits.

While Dowelltown had already approved the measure, some in the Town of Liberty had reservations. A town hall meeting was held in October where state and county officials met with the mayor and aldermen, and several concerned citizens.

Many area residents complained that the massive tower would be an eyesore and asked why it could not be constructed in a more remote area.

Alderman Stanford asked if the town had received any type of agreement in writing as to the specifications and length of the agreement. "Are we just voting on a tower, and letting them do whatever? If we vote on this tonight, there is nothing in writing that says how tall it is or how long it will be there. I think with something this big, we need a city attorney and we don't have one. We need some legal advise."

One resident at the meeting suggested that the state had to start with publicly owned property first, and that the fire hall location was actually the state's third choice for a location for the tower. "This is not a good site. I think the only reason they picked it is because they had to pick something on public land just to show they were following their protocol."

The main consensus was that all agreed that the tower was needed in the area, but the location at the fire hall was not suitable and would be a detriment to the neighboring homes and property owners.  

A motion was made to vote 'No' on the tower, and the motion was seconded. Aldermen

Bratten, Dodd, Mullinax, Reynolds, and Stanford all voted against the tower and the measure was defeated.

The Liberty Board of Mayor and Aldermen also voted to change the date of their Christmas Parade. The date has been changed to December 8 in order to coincide with the Smithville parade the day before. The change was made due to the floats which are decorated and shown in both parades.